APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION

126 Pages·2016·15.34 MB·English

by  Hala Hawa

APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION:
Exploring Canadian Consumer Attitudes

By
Hala Hawa

A thesis submitted to the
Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Design
In
Industrial Design

Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario

© 2016 Hala Hawa
APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION: EXPLORING CANADIAN CONSUMER ATTITUDES

ABSTRACT

Apparel mass-customization is a relatively new service and product concept, which
engages consumers in co-designing clothing online for a tailored product. This study explores
Canadian consumers’ attitudes towards clothing, custom clothing, and co-design apparel on-
line, and assesses the potential for the adoption of this concept in Canada.
This study is guided by multi-component attitude model, where attitudes are formed by
cognitive, affective, and prior experiences. The findings indicate that Canadian participants
have a positive attitude towards custom clothing, and the co-design process. Results show that
the sample was ready to adopt co-designing clothing online, provided they trusted the service,
had access to good interactive and efficient online tools, a variety of design options, and design
help. The majority of the sample was willing to pay more, and willing to wait longer for their
co-designed clothing. Each of these findings is examined by a multi-layer consumer
segmentation of gender, social tendency and shopping behaviour.
The study uses two sets of sources, and two data collection methods. Sources included 13
adult Canadian consumers, and 11 industry experts from Canada, United States, Western
Europe, and Australia. Data collection methods included a semi-structured interview, and a
questionnaire. Consumer responses are compared with industry experts for validity and to
provide a 360° perspective. Consumer and expert responses are compared and contrasted with
relevant academic literature.
The study contributes to the understanding of Canadian consumer motivations, and the
potential for adopting apparel mass-customization in specific contexts. Findings are discussed
in light of their relevance to apparel and user experience designers, marketers, and academic
researchers.

Key Words: Apparel Mass Customization, RTW Clothing, Custom Clothing, Co-design,
Consumer Behaviour.

ii
APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION: EXPLORING CANADIAN CONSUMER ATTITUDES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank my mom Fatima and dad Taha who continue to inspire
me long after their passing. Their memory helped me undertake this study, which made it a
personal and professional journey. Thank you for being my pillars of strength, always
encouraging me to pursue higher learning, and go beyond my comfort zone.
Gratitude and warm thank you to my supervisor Professor Bjarki Hallgrimsson and co-
supervisor Dr. Steven Murphy, for your warm encouragement and invaluable advice without
which this paper would not have been possible.
Special thanks to faculty members at Carleton and Ryerson University for providing
valuable feedback, and references, during the early stages of this study. From Carleton
University, School of Industrial Design: Professors Dr. Thomas Garvey and Dr. Lois Frankel,
and former Professors Brian Burns and Dr. Tim Moore, and for program administrator Valerie
Daley for her unwavering support. From Ryerson University, Professor Dr. Hong Yu, at Ted
Rogers School of Retail Management; and Professor Robert Ott, at the School of Fashion.
Special thank you to all consumer participants whose participation was crucial to the
completion of the study. Gratitude and thanks to all industry expert participants for sharing their
knowledge with me, Helene Day Fraser, Mitra Vaezi, Catherine Harding, Dr. Chang Shu, Jamal
Motlagh, Francis Bitoni Studio, Professor Susan Ashdown, Mary McFadden, Daniel Seo, Kae
Woei Lim, Dr. Hein Daanen and Dr. Frank Piller.
Last but not least a big thank you to my family members and close friends for their
understanding, cooperation and support. Special thanks to my sister Salam for being my
sounding board and writing mentor, and my husband Denis for his patience, understanding and
support throughout.
I would not have been able to complete this long, challenging yet very rewarding personal
and academic journey without all of your support.
Thank You!
iii
APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION: EXPLORING CANADIAN CONSUMER ATTITUDES
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ii
Acknowledgments iii
Table of Contents iv
List of Tables v
List of Figures vi
List of Appendices vii

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 7
2.1 Clothing and Social Psychology 7
2.1.1 Identity and Wellbeing 7
2.1.2 Social Tendency 8
2.1.3 Shopping Behaviour 9
2.1.4 Gender 10
2.2 Clothing and Mass Customization 11
2.3 Clothing and Consumer Attitude 19
2.4 Clothing Co-design and Consumer Attitude 22
2.5 Clothing Co-design Adoption and Consumer Attitude 27
2.6 Summary 33

3. METHODS 38

4. DATA ANALYSIS 45
4.1 Participants 45
4.2 Contextual Baseline 48
4.3 Consumer Attitude 53
4.4 Consumer Adoption 64
4.5 Summary 73

5. CONCLUSION 75
5.1 Discussion 75
5.2 Conclusion 84

REFERENCE LIST 88

GLOSSARY 95

APPENDICES 96

iv
APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION: EXPLORING CANADIAN CONSUMER ATTITUDES
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Consumer Multi Segmentation Categories 43
Table 2 Data Analysis Approach 43
Table 3 Profile of Consumer Sample 46
Table 4 Social Tendency Segmentation 46
Table 5 Shopping Behaviour Segmentation 47
Table 6 Clothing Detail Prioritization 61
Table 7 Clothing Type Prioritization 62
Table 8 Clothing Category Prioritization by Gender 63
Table 9 Profile of Industry Expert Sample 108
Table 10 RTW Clothing Attitude Results by ML Segment 109
Table 11 RTW Clothing Fit Issues by ML Segment 109
Table 12 RTW Clothing Shopping Online Attitude Results by ML Segment 110
Table 13 Custom Clothing Attitude Results by ML Segment 111
Table 14 Co-design Clothing Attitude Results by ML Segment 112
Table 15 Co-design Personal Impact Results by ML Segment 113
Table 16 Adoption Needs Results by ML Segment 115
Table 17 Expert Validation of Adoption Comfort Needs 116
Table 18 Expert Validation of Adoption Elements Needed 116
Table 19 Custom Clothing: Willingness to Pay Extra (3 Levels) 117
Table 20 Custom Clothing: Willingness to Pay Extra - Level 2 117
Table 21 Custom Clothing: Willingness to Wait 119

v
APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION: EXPLORING CANADIAN CONSUMER ATTITUDES
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Customize Your Shirt: Style, Material, Details 3
Figure 2 Product Customization Strategies 13
Figure 3 Chris Anderson’s Long Tail Graph 14
Figure 4 Points and Extent of Customization 14
Figure 5: Customizing a Suit Online 17
Figure 6: Customizing a T-shirt Online 18
Figure 7 Apparel MC Literature Review 35
Figure 8: Research Themes, Context and Consumer Segmentation 36
Figure 9 Consumer Interview and Questionnaire Plan 40
Figure 10 Expert Interview and Questionnaire Plan 41
Figure 11 Multi Layer Consumer Segmentation Chart 47
Figure 12 RTW Clothing Fit Issues Chart 49
Figure 13 Custom Clothing: Consumer Primary Feelings Chart 51
Figure 14 Custom Clothing: Overall Consumer Attitude – Expert Perspective 52
Figure 15 - Custom Clothing: Consumer Primary Liked and Disliked Aspects Charts 52
Figure 16 Custom Clothing: Primary Personal Impact Chart 57
Figure 17 Custom Clothing Co-design: Personal Impact, Expert Perspective Chart 58
Figure 18 Maximum Willingness to Wait by Segment 72
Figure 19 Clothing Co-design online: Adoption Elements Needed Chart 114
Figure 20 Clothing Co-design online: Adoption Comfort Needs Chart 114
Figure 21 Clothing Co-design online: Adoption Comfort Needs Exclusive to Experts 114
Figure 22 Maximum Willingness to Pay Extra by Segment 118

vi
APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION: EXPLORING CANADIAN CONSUMER ATTITUDES
LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A.1 Participant Invitation Letter 97
Appendix A.2 Industry Invitation Letter 98
Appendix A.3 Expert Invitation Letter 99
Appendix B.1 Participant Interview Guide 100
Appendix B.2 Expert Interview Guide 102
Appendix C.1 Participant Questionnaire 104
Appendix C.2 Expert Questionnaire 105
Appendix D.1 Participant Consent Form 106
Appendix D.2 Expert Consent Form 107
Appendix E Industry Expert Profile 108
Appendix F.1 RTW Clothing 109
Appendix F.2 RTW Clothes Online Shopping Attitude 110
Appendix F.3 Custom Clothing Attitude 111
Appendix F.4 Co-designing Clothing Attitude 112
Appendix G Personal Impact 113
Appendix H Adoption Needs 114
Appendix K.1 Willingness to Pay Extra 117
Appendix K.2 Willingness to Wait 119

vii
APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION: EXPLORING CANADIAN CONSUMER ATTITUDES

1
INTRODUCTION

Until recently consumers have been offered the possibility of purchasing clothing that
has either been mass-produced as ready-to-wear (RTW), or custom-made by a tailor. Although
there have been some academic consumer studies that showed that men (Sindicich, 2008;
Sindicich & Black, 2011) and women (Goldsberry et al., 1996; Alexander et al., 2005; Al-
Mousa, 2005) equally experienced problems with the fit of RTW clothing, most have shown
little interest in gauging consumer attitudes towards custom-tailored clothing available at retail
and /or online. This may be because it is generally a service provided by small businesses that
focus on niche markets, such as men’s business attire and bridal-wear.
Pine and Gilmore (1999) argue that after the agricultural, industrial and service economy,
the latest transformation in the West is the ‘experience economy’. It is so called, as it is led by
businesses that succeed in competitive markets as they provide a unique consumer experience
that differentiates them from the competition. These businesses rely on mass customization
(MC) concept that requires a collaborative process to exist between the brand and the consumer
to design tailored products / services using interactive computerized tools (Pine, 1993, p. 48).
During such a collaborative process the consumer experiences the brand as a unique /
memorable event (Pine and Gilmore, 1999). In addition, MC process applies flexible
manufacturing and mass production efficiencies, which result in low cost customized products.
In the last thirty years advances in digital technologies have facilitated the introduction
and online accessibility of mass-customized products to markets around the world. The
objective of applying the MC process to the apparel industry is very similar to that of other
1
APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION: EXPLORING CANADIAN CONSUMER ATTITUDES
industries, namely to garner brand loyalty and remain competitive. During the 1990s Apparel
market leaders Levis and Nike were the first to apply the MC process to their apparel (clothing,
shoes) in retail spaces and more recently online (Lee et al., 2011). This suggests that the
apparel MC concept has the potential to increase consumer access to custom clothing, locally
and globally.
“Co-design” is a major part of the MC process. The view of business management has
identified four approaches to engage consumers in the MC process, three of which apply to
apparel MC. These include “collaborative customization” (professional & standard design
modules) for consumers who need help; adaptive customization (standard design modules) for
those with sufficient product knowledge, and “cosmetic customization” (embellishment of a
standard design) for those who want to personalize the end product. In all these approaches,
businesses and consumers collaborate and communicate using the help of technology such as
design tool and Internet (Gilmore & Pine, 1997). A study in the US about female consumer’s
attitude was the first to use the term “co-design” in the context of apparel MC. It was the first
study to propose a consumer-based model as a business strategy. It was also the first to use the
term “co-design” to describe the collaboration between manufacturer and consumer, and to
specify and produce customized apparel with the help of a professional using a computer
system. The authors defined it as “co-design, a process that provides professional assistance in
assessing fashion selections, making design choices, and facilitating image depictions on a
computer screen” (Anderson-Connell et al., 2002).
When apparel MC was first introduced at retail, customers interacted with an on-site
professional who helped them co-design their apparel using a digital system (software). As
computer aided design (CAD) became accessible to customers online, it facilitated the
collaborative communication between business and customer by visually simulating the
2
APPAREL MASS CUSTOMIZATION: EXPLORING CANADIAN CONSUMER ATTITUDES
customized end product (Ulrich et al., 2003). This study uses Fiore et al.’s (2004) definition of
“co-design” to express customers’ perspective: “in co-design the consumer, generally with the
aid of CAD technology and/or professional assistance, creates an individualized product design
from a company’s style, fabric, colour, surface design, and size alternatives,” and then “the
product is manufactured for the consumer” (Fiore, et al., 2004, 838).
The apparel “co-design” activity requires that consumer and designer co-operate through
a physical or virtual medium. Today advances in digital technologies make it possible for
consumers to participate in making design decisions using an online design toolkit previously
developed by the designer(s) (Ulrich et al, 2003; Fiore et al 2004; Ross, 2012). An example of
the process of co-designing a man’s shirt online is illustrated in Figure 1 below, represented in
three screen shots taken from the apparel MC website tailor4less. This figure illustrates a series
of co-design options to customize a shirt. Screen (a) presents the consumer with the shirt style
design options that include its cut, collar and cuffs; screen (b) presents design options for fabric,
colour and pattern; and screen (c) presents design options to personalize the shirt such as
monogram content and coloured lining and trimming details (button, button hole etc.). This
website provides its users with the ability to view a 3D simulation of the co-design changes they
make to the shirt in real time.

Screen a Screen b Screen c

Figure 1: Customize Your Shirt: Style, Material, Details, (Source www.tailor4less.com)

3